Men are less likely than women to seek help for mental health issues and are much more likely to die through suicide.  This WHO scoping review (titled: 'Mental Health, Men and Culture: How do Sociocultural Constructions of Masculinities Relate to Men’s Mental Health Help-Seeking Behaviour in the WHO European Region?') examined recent evidence published in English and Russian on the role of socially constructed masculinity norms in men’s help-seeking behaviour for mental health issues.  Download the report at: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/332974/9789289055130-eng.pdf

This article, in the Journal of Agromedicine, seeks to: provide an overview of the impacts of - and responses to - the spread of COVID-19 in Ireland; assess the vulnerability of the population living in rural areas to COVID-19; compare the health status of male farmers to underlying medical conditions frequently associated with those experiencing the worst impacts of the illness; and assess the implications of COVID-19 for farmers living alone and farm households with children.  You can download a copy of the article at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1059924X.2020.1814920

The Public Health Agency has produced a flyer called 'A Useful Guide to Mental and Emotional Wellbeing Resources’.  This offers signposting to a range of information, services and support for people who live in Northern Ireland.  You can view it at: www.mindingyourhead.info/sites/default/files/publications/useful_guide_to_mental_and_emotional_wellbeing_resources_pdf.pdf

During September 2020, the Marie Keating Foundation ran a ‘Stand Up for Your Prostate’ campaign.  This sought to open-up a discussion about prostate cancer, and encourage men to seek advice from their GP if they notice any changes in their bodies or when they reach the age of 50 (or 45 with a family history of prostate cancer).  Five of Ireland’s top comedians (Des Bishop, PJ Gallagher, Danny O’Brien, Gearoid Farrelly and Al Foran) came together to encourage men to ‘step up to the mic’ when it comes to speaking about their health. You can hear their stories and find out more at: www.mariekeating.ie/standupforyourprostate2020

St Vincent's University Hospital invites you to participate in their online Stop Smoking Course.  This six week programme will: provide support; help develop skills to stop smoking; provide advice on stop smoking medications.  It will take place on Mondays, from 2nd November to 7th December 2020, between 5.30pm and 7.00pm.  For more information / to book a place, contact the Department of Preventive Medicine and Health Promotion at Tel: 01 2214958  |  Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For people undergoing cancer treatment, the opportunity to preserve fertility can be very important for quality of life in survivorship.  This webinar - being run by the Irish Cancer Society on Friday 6th November 2020 at 1.00pm - will: bring together a panel of people with lived experience, as well as fertility and healthcare experts; discuss the current situation regarding fertility preservation for cancer patients; make recommendations for the future.  Everyone is welcome to register for this free event at: https://bit.ly/353cz5l

Access to reliable COVID-related health and wellbeing evidence continues to be important in Ireland.  The Institute of Public Health has, therefore, launched a new series of factsheets which provides evidence on key public health topics.  The first factsheet focuses on Tobacco and COVID-19 (see: https://publichealth.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/COVID-19-Tobacco-Factsheet-Updated-September-2020.pdf), and this will be followed by other topics including maternal health and physical activity.

The recent issue of the International Journal of Men's Social and Community Health - which was guest edited by Prof Derek Griffith - focuses upon ‘Intersectional Approaches to Equity in Men's Health and Wellbeing’.  One of the articles in this issue centres upon middle-aged men and suicide in Ireland (see: https://ijmsch.com/index.php/IJMSCH/article/view/32).  You can also access all the articles at: https://ijmsch.com/index.php/IJMSCH/issue/view/6